The following quotes can be attributed to Heather R. Huhman, founder and president of Come Recommended. While you are free to cut and paste her responses below for your article or blog, we request that you send an e-mail to pr@comerecommended.com with your intent to use this information. (Note: You do not need to wait for a response from us. We’re simply asking for a heads-up so we can read your piece!) Thank you.
General | Employers | Candidates | About Heather
Q: What is Come Recommended?
A: Come Recommended is an exclusive online community connecting the best internship and entry-level job candidates with the best employers. Unlike other exclusive recruiting networks, Come Recommended requires both candidates and employers to provide at least three recommendations to gain access to the community.
Q: Who can join Come Recommended?
A: There are two user categories—candidates and employers. Candidates must be over 18-years-old and can include current high school or college students or individuals who graduated from college up to one year before the current year. For example, right now, young professionals who graduated in 2008 will be accepted into the system. Come January 1, 2010, those who graduated in 2008 will no longer have access.
On the employer side, Come Recommended welcomes human resources professionals, staffing firms, recruiters, headhunters and anyone else charged with hiring interns and entry-level professionals.
Q: Who will benefit most from the site?
A: Both individuals seeking and those needing to fill internships and entry-level jobs will benefit extensively from using Come Recommended.
Q: Does it cost anything?
A: All of Come Recommended’s “core” features—those included in the original launch—are free to candidates and employers. Students and recent college graduates don’t have a lot of disposable income. And, with the current economic climate, organizations are changing their hiring strategies to be more streamlined and cost-effective. Come Recommended helps them achieve these new goals. Even when the economy bounces back – and it will, with time – Come Recommended’s “core” features will remain completely free. However, to help us keep our features free or low-cost, we encourage users to purchase services and products from the candidate and employer Resource Centers and click on the site’s banner ads.
Q: How does Come Recommended work?
A: First, candidates and employers register and build detailed profiles. Before being accepted into the community, all users must first be recommended by at least three individuals. For candidates, this can include current or previous employers, industry professionals, professors/teachers and other non-family members. For employers, this can include current or previous interns or entry-level professionals. References need not be registered users of Come Recommended.
After building a profile, users are able to send recommendation requests via e-mail using the site’s technology. The e-mail received by their references includes a link to a simple online form. For candidates, this form includes the most typical questions hiring managers ask during the reference check process. For employers, the form asks questions a candidate might ask a current intern or entry-level employee about the organization. All answers are automatically transmitted back to the requesting user’s profile.
Once a user has three recommendations, and these recommendations have been confirmed to follow the rules I just outlined, they are accepted into the community and can access Come Recommended’s numerous features.
Q: How do you verify that the recommendations on your site come from legitimate sources?
A: We will do this in several ways. First, recommendation requests can only be sent to “paid” e-mail domains—not free accounts such as Gmail or Hotmail. Second, because references must provide their phone numbers, Come Recommended staff will perform random checks to assure accuracy. Finally, if a user suspects a reference might not be legitimate, he or she is encouraged to contact us immediately, and we will follow-up. If, indeed, the recommendation has been falsified, the user will be permanently banned from Come Recommended.
Q: Are the forums moderated?
A: No, they are not. However, candidates and employers are encouraged to report abusive behavior by sending an e-mail to reports@comerecommended.com.
Q: Are there other Web sites like Come Recommended?
A: While there are many sites with a similar goal, Come Recommended distinguishes itself mainly through its exclusive nature. The recommendation process serves as a way for employers and candidates to gain immediate, objective feedback on each other. Most other Web sites lack any type of screening process for their users. This is very problematic for career-based sites because they become cluttered with false or misleading job ads and the résumés of unqualified candidates.
Q: With what other organizations do you have relationships? How do those relationships benefit Come Recommended users?
A: A full list of the organizations with which we have a relationship can be found on the Current Sponsors page. Prior to launching Come Recommended, we formed relationships with organizations we know provide valuable services, products and advice for our users. These organizations include:
- Campus Calm, which empowers students and recent graduates around the world to breathe, become stress-resistant and create their own paths to purpose, prosperity and happiness.
- CAREEREALISM.com, a leading career news and perspective site for young professionals ages 18 to 40 that was named a ‘must-read’ by Careerbuilder.com and BusinessWeek.com.
- Glassdoor.com, a career and workplace community where anyone can find and anonymously share real-time company reviews and ratings, salary details and interview reviews and questions regarding specific jobs for specific employers — for free.
- Intern Bridge, the nation’s largest college recruiting research firm responsible for discovering best practices by surveying over 50,000 students annually, and providing information through workshops, seminars and a series of publications.
- InternshipRatings.com, a resource for students to rate, research and compare internships in various industries across the United States.
- Keppie Careers, which encourages, enlightens and empowers job seekers for success.
- The Orrell Group, lead by popular speaker, author and consultant Lisa Orrell, which improves generational dynamics and team building in the workforce and coaches Gen Y employees entering leadership roles at work.
Q: How does Come Recommended make money? Do you plan to seek investors or raise capital from advertising and other fees in the future?
A: Initially, Come Recommended will be solely supported by advertising, sponsorships, paid seminars/courses, career coaching services, cover letter and résumé review services, paid speaking engagements and other strategic business relationships.
Additionally, users will be actively polled during the first six months regarding future feature requests. After that time, they will still have the ability to submit requests and ideas via a dedicated e-mail address. Come Recommended will consider every request and plans to begin implementing new features starting May 2010, or sooner if possible. Additionally, Come Recommended will evaluate new features on a case-by-case basis to determine whether and how much to charge users for each.
As far as seeking investors in the future, we have not ruled out that possibility.
Q: Who can advertise on Come Recommended? Can employers advertise jobs?
A: There are several different types of advertising, as outlined on the Advertising & Sponsorship Packages page. Come Recommended reserves the right to reject any advertising that we determine, in our sole judgment, is not in keeping with our mission. For example, Come Recommended will not accept advertising for the sale or provision of goods or services relating to tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, pornography or other such matters that would, in our opinion, be inappropriate for our users, some of whom may be under the age of eighteen.
And yes, employers may advertise jobs through either targeted e-mails to candidates or banner/square advertisements on the site itself.
Q: Do you plan to extend this service beyond intern and entry-level jobs in the future?
A: Perhaps, but only time will tell. I’ve always felt those just launching their careers have a tougher time finding and landing jobs because these skills are among the few things not taught in school. While this may sound like Come Recommended is very one-sided in favor of candidates, employers actually have just as much to gain from candidates educated about what it takes to qualify and apply for their open positions.
Q: Why should employers join Come Recommended?
A: Any employer looking to streamline the time it takes to find high-quality, qualified candidates for their open internships and entry-level positions plus save money during this process should join Come Recommended.
Q: Who should provide recommendations for employers?
A: Employers may receive recommendations from current or previous interns or entry-level professionals. References need not be registered users of Come Recommended.
Q: What other information do employers need to provide before they can join Come Recommended?
A: Other than the organization’s name, description and contact information, employers are also asked to provide whether or not they offer employment visa sponsorships, a list of full-time employee benefits, a description of the organization’s culture, details about their internship program (if applicable) and other campus recruiting efforts, their Glassdoor and InternshipRatings.com ranks, any employment-related awards the organization has received and a list of reasons to work for the organization. While not all of these fields are required, the more complete an employer’s profile is, the better that organization will look to a prospective candidate.
Q: Can employers select which recommendations to include in their profiles?
A: No, they cannot. The idea behind Come Recommended is to show both sides—employers and candidates—the true nature of the opposing party. Ideally, there would be far more positive recommendations than negative, though, because we want the community to be comprised of only the best. Thus, receiving too many negative recommendations could be grounds for being banned from the site. This is determined on a case-by-case basis by Come Recommended.
Q: Will Come Recommended help me see if other employers in our industry are hiring?
A: Yes, employers have access to the job board and the ability to search for open positions.
Q: What kinds of employers are you hoping to attract with Come Recommended?
A: Any employer that hires interns and/or entry-level professionals and also comes highly recommended is welcome and encouraged to register.
Q: Who should provide recommendations for candidates?
A: Candidates may receive recommendations from current or previous employers, industry professionals, professors/teachers and other non-family members. References need not be registered users of Come Recommended.
Q: How many recommendations should candidates have on their profiles?
A: The minimum is three recommendations, but candidates may request and receive as many recommendations as they deem necessary.
Q: What other information do candidates need to provide before they can join Come Recommended?
A: Other than their name and location (city and state), candidates are also asked to provide their willingness to relocate, details about their education, information about present and past work and volunteer experience, and a list of activities, memberships, skills, honors and certifications. While not all of these fields are required, the more complete a candidate’s profile is, the better he/she will look to a prospective employer.
Q: Can candidates delete negative recommendations?
A: No, they cannot. The idea behind Come Recommended is to show both sides—candidates and employers—the true nature of the opposing party. Ideally, there would be far more positive recommendations than negative, though, because we want the community to be comprised of only the best. Thus, receiving too many negative recommendations could be grounds for being banned from the site. This is determined on a case-by-case basis by Come Recommended.
Q: Will Come Recommended help candidates find internships and entry-level jobs?
A: That is certainly the idea! We provide candidates with profiles that highlight their qualifications in a uniform manner that is easy for employers to digest and assess; a Resource Center with helpful articles and blog posts, podcasts, seminars/webinars, and other products and services; and the ability to chat directly with prospective employers, among other great features.
Q: Will Come Recommended help candidates connect with other people who are looking for internships and entry-level jobs?
A: Yes. Candidates will have access to a candidate-only forum in which they can communicate with other candidates about topics ranging from accepting and rejecting job offers, college-to-career transitions, cover letters and résumés, interviews, relocating and more.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for Come Recommended?
A: I explain the whole story in my first blog post.
Q: What is your background and experience in careers?
A: As an experienced hiring manager and someone who has been in nearly every employment-related situation imaginable, I know and understand the needs of today’s employers and internship and entry-level job seekers. My expertise in this area led to my selection as Examiner.com’s entry-level careers columnist in mid-2008. The daily, national column educates high school students through recent college graduates about how to find, land and succeed at internships and entry-level jobs.
Additionally, I founded the niche job board EntryLevel-PR.com in 2003, am a career expert for the CAREEREALISM Twitter Advice Project, the job search expert for Campus Calm, a contributor to both One Day, One Job and One Day, One Internship, and author of the e-book “Gen Y Meets the Workforce: Launching Your Career During Economic Uncertainty.”
Q: Do you offer one-on-one advice?
A: Yes, but for right now, these services are limited to young professionals seeking careers in public relations—my first career and one I still love dearly. But, I do plan on expanding my career coaching packages as demand from individuals in other career paths increases.
Q: Are you available for speaking engagements?
A: Yes, I am. For more information, please contact Rachel Doyle at pr@comerecommended.com.
